If you will be in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area on July 24, stop by and see me at the Inn at Loretto, I will be their Artist in Residence that day! If you can’t make that you can probably find me painting on the patio at Michael Henington Fine Art the next day. The address of that gallery is 802 Canyon Road. I am taking some new art so be sure to visit!!

June 18 I’ll be giving a lucky Facebook page follower this mousepad! The photo is of a watercolor painting called “Borrowed Time” and all you have to do is just hit the page “Like” button for a chance to win! There is an FB page link viewable for PC & Mac users on the left, or click here: http://www.facebook.com/tamararymer

Yesterday, after waking to find that Facebook had pulled the cover pic off of my Facebook page, and left me with a pop up “info” sign, I am encouraging folks who want to keep up with my studio news to please subscribe to my blog (sign up on side bar) or newsletter, link here: http://tamararymer.com/events.html.

What was the pop up? Wish I had made a screen pic of it, but it told me that I couldn’t have text or advertise. The text in the pic, was my copyright over part of my picture, that was it. So please keep up with me, by signing up via blog or newsletter. The blog will put a post in your mailbox only occasionally, the newsletter about once a quarter.

Here’s my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tamararymer, the current cover pic at the top shows another copyright on it- same as previous pic.

Now showing original paintings and prints at Buffalo River Art Gallery in Paola, Kansas! Going to Kansas City? It’s just a short drive south, and Paola is one of the top small towns in America. You can shop online at: http://buffaloriverarts.storenvy.com/

As an artist who sell giclee prints, I feel compelled to offer up some reminders on how to care for them. I am aware of people who just don’t know about the need to be careful on placement of their newly purchased art- so here ya go!

Lets start with giclee prints on canvas. Hopefully they have been sealed with a layer of UV protectant to help filter out harmful lighting, yet as good as that sounds, that’s still not enough. Please don’t hang them on a wall that has direct sunlight streaming in where it will scan across those art prints. UV protection or not, it’s gonna get ’em eventually, and please don’t put a wonderful spot light closely zoning in on those prints either! The spots can do the same damage as the sun. So where am I getting this information? I have a very dear friend who owns Frame -N-Art gallery in Corrales, New Mexico. They are beyond being knowledgable on their trade and can really give you the right info on art conservation. This is not an ad for these folks but most certainly an endorsement for all the “right” information they have passed on to me on all the framing we have done together over the years. They have even lectured to picture framers about this on a national level. Keep reading-

I was shown a giclee print on canvas done by a very well-known western artist that was brought into the Frame-N-Art shop by the owner, to show the shop what had happened to it. It was incredibly faded, like what happens if you put bright red cotton clothes in a hot wash and hot dryer and pull them out dark pink!! The sun had done it. The owners of the print got a replacement from the artist, yes he is still alive fortunately, but the owners got the print as a giclee on paper. Guess they weren’t brave enough to try it again on canvas. It’s where ya hang ’em on the wall folks!!

So this leads me into giclee prints on paper. You can use the same philosophy that I just wrote above on wall placement, and, yes, the sun and spot lights will also affect these. Giclees on paper can have a spray protective coating on them, and be put in a frame that has a uv protective glass or plexiglass layer over the top. That’s double the armor. Sounds like a lot of info, but a good framer will be able to set you up with the right frame works for this. Bottom line is the lighting.

With giclee prints, either on canvas, or paper, as with original paintings of any kind, take a look at how you’re hanging them, how close to them are those spot lights, etc? Your prints will last many generations, yes, with care, they can be passed down the family, over and over again!